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House fire kills Lebanese student

Nino Bucci and Adrian Lowe

Investigators inspect the scene of a fatal house fire in St Albans. Photo: Jason South

KHALED Dalla came from a village in north Lebanon to Australia to study.

He had no family here, but other young men from his home town had thrived in the country.

Over the past two years he started a certificate in business management at the Western Institute of Technology, moved into a house in St Albans, and more recently, bought a white van.

Khaled Dalla. Photo: Supplied

On Monday morning, the same van sat in the driveway of Mr Dalla's destroyed home, only metres from where his body was dragged by a housemate and a neighbour.

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Homicide detectives wer investigating the house fire that killed Mr Dalla, 21, and left one of the men who rescued him in hospital, but said they are no longer treating the fire as suspicious. The other man is assisting police with their inquiries.

When Metropolitan Fire Brigade crews arrived at the single-storey house in Grantham Parade, St Albans, just before 4am, they found the house completely alight.

The ''particularly aggressive'' blaze took 40 minutes to control and power lines from the building had been burnt off, an MFB spokeswoman said.

A family friend said Mr Dalla's parents in Lebanon had been contacted by the family of one of his housemates. ''They were absolutely devastated,'' the man said.

Another man, a cousin of the housemate, said Mr Dalla, pictured, was making a life for himself in Australia. He was close to other Lebanese families in the street, often sharing meals with them.

''He's just a nice, young guy who loved Australia,'' he said.

Reports to emergency services indicated the fire started in the living room, but it spread quickly and police will investigate if accelerants were used.

There is no evidence the house was being used to manufacture drugs, and the deceased was not known to police.

Homicide squad Detective Sergeant Rob Nazaretian said the man had been dragged from the house to the driveway by a housemate and neighbour.

Mr Dalla had reportedly been sleeping in the living room, but Detective Sergeant Nazaretian said it was unclear where he had been in the house.

''The cause of death is yet to be established, there will be a post-mortem examination over the next 24 hours and we'll seek to answer those questions,'' he said.

A friend of the victim, Rachel Cutajar, said that he was sleeping on the couch. She said the victim's flatmate had told him not to sleep there.

''[The flatmate said] 'Get off the couch, go in your room so you don't get a sore neck' and [the victim's] like 'No, no I'll stay here','' she told radio station 3AW. ''One hour later, the whole house was burnt down.''